Axel and the Beach
by Alasora
Summary: One day I sat down and started writing about what I would want to happen if I could go to the beach with Axel. This is what popped up! Very cliché, but very happy! Couples: Sora&Kairi, Roxas&Namine and obviously, Axel&My OC Alasora
1. Chapter 1

Okay so this is my fantasy day with Axel! Yes, if I could date anyone from Kingdom Hearts it would be him (Riku coming in with a close second).

In my story, everyone is living back on Destiny Islands (somehow Axel comes to live with everyone...he is revived from the dead!), so the couples are Sora and Kairi, Roxas and Naminé, and Riku and Yuffie (I'd heard of that pairing and I kinda liked it, so I'm using it here). I kind of forgot about Riku when I started writing this, so we're pretending that he's off in Hollow Bastion with Yuffie for some reason.

Also in my story, Destiny Island, Twilight Town, and Hollow Bastion/Radiant Garden are all part of the same world, so you don't have to go on a gummi ship to get there or anything. This story is pretty random, it's just my brain fantasizing what I might do if I could go to the beach with Axel! Watch out, it's EXTREMELY cliché, but hey, it was fun to write. Okay, enough rambling, here's the story!

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It was so sweltering that day that we decided to go to the beach. We packed a ton of snack food into a cooler, and lugged it into one of the boats that we use to get to the smaller island. (A/N: the smaller island is the one they are on in KH1, and the one they come back to at the end of KH2)

I had put on my blue and white bikini, but put a T-shirt and board shorts over it for the way there. Naminé had just put a sundress over her suit, but Kairi had only worn a sarong (wanting to get as tan as possible). The guys all had on their trunks, but no tops. It was too hot for them…or so they said.

I was secretly pleased (as I'm sure both Kairi and Naminé were) to see the guys' bare chest. Especially Axel's – but why wouldn't I, seeing I had a huge crush on him. I was rather jealous of both Kairi and Naminé because they didn't have to hide their feelings. Kairi and Sora were dating, as were Roxas and Naminé, so they didn't have to be cautious about showing their emotions. I really had no idea of what Axel thought of me, but it seemed like we were friends. Besides, there wasn't really anyone else in Destiny Islands who he'd want to go out with – or who wasn't taken already.

Well, getting back to what actually happened that day! We all trudged to the boats, and loaded our gear into them. It only took us a few minutes to paddle across to the other island.

Unable to endure the heat, Axel jumped out of his boat before they reached the shore, and swam the rest of the way.

"Ah, this feels great!" He exclaimed, as the rest of us pushed the boats onto shore and heaved the cooler and towels onto the sand.

I looked on enviously. The water looked so cool and inviting – especially with Axel swimming in it. I mentally slapped my forehead as soon as that thought crossed my mind. But how could I help wanting to ogle Axel's body? I'm a freakin' teenage girl for god's sake.

"Hey slacker," Roxas called to Axel. "Why don't you help us out here?" The rest of us were wrestling with the giant umbrella and lounge chairs that were kept in the seaside shack.

"Alright, alright," Axel surrendered, and reluctantly emerged from the water to come over to the shack.

I was struggling to stick the damn umbrella in the sand; it kept tipping over. Suddenly a pair of hands had gripped the pole and plunged it deep into the sand.

"Better?" Axel asked, grinning.

"Yeah – thanks," I said, looking up at him. But when I did, I burst out laughing.

"What? What's so funny?" He asked, an adorable, confused look on his face.

"Your – hair," I managed amid my laughter. His normally spiky orange hair was all slicked back and dripping wet.

"Ah – you've never seen my hair wet before, have you," He smiled. Suddenly, he shook his head vigorously back and forth, and then up and down, spraying water in my face. His hair somehow managed to resume its normal position, and I burst out in fresh giggles at the sight.

"You are one crazy girl," He remarked, grinning, and turned away to go help set up the lounge chairs.

I quickly controlled my laughter, now paranoid that he thought I was annoying or insane or something. Okay, act more normal, I thought to myself.

I removed my shirt and shorts, folding them and placing them in the bag I had brought. Roxas had already opened a bag of chips, and sat with Naminé on the lounges as she doodled in her sketchbook. Sora and Kairi had left for a short walk around the island. Axel was sitting on another lounge, sipping a soda. I went up to the three and asked,

"Anyone going swimming?"

"Nah, I'm fine here," Roxas replied.

"Me too," Naminé said.

"Hell, _I'm_ going swimming!" Axel said, appearing to eye my now bikini-clad body. "That's what beaches are for, right?"

"Definitely," I agreed as he got up. So now it was just us. I didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing, but I was about to find out.

Axel ran ahead of me, splashing into the surf, and diving into the deeper water. I was a little more cautious, and I just waded up to my calves for a bit, letting myself adjust to the cool temperature. Suddenly, a larger wave washed to the shore, and I had to jump so that the water wouldn't reach my torso. But with the next wave came a frantic cry of, "Watch out!" But I was too late, and Axel, who was riding the wave, crashed into me. It knocked us down and the water rushed over both of us. When the wave receded, I found Axel lying right smack on top of me. He jumped up quickly – almost too quickly. Or was I just being paranoid?

"I am so sorry!" He exclaimed, becoming uncharacteristically bashful. He held out a hand to me and said, "Let me help you up."

I grabbed his hand and he pulled me to my feet. "Heh, thanks," I replied. Not wanting to let an awkward silence ensue, I half laughed, "I should have moved when you told me to…"

"No, I should have watched where I was going…I always have to close my eyes underwater because it stings," he said, starting to mumble. This was so unlike him. Was he nervous? Was it because of me? I decided I'd tease him to try and get us out of this apologetic conversation.

"Well, that's understandable, water being your weakness and all," I said matter-of-factly.

"Huh?"

"Well, if your element is fire, then obviously your weakness would be its opposite: water."

"Actually, I don't think that's true," he said, but without much conviction.

"Well, why don't we put it to the test? I'll bet I can stay underwater longer than you can. If you beat me, then I'm wrong and you're right."

"Fine," he replied, folding his arms. What he didn't know was that I sucked at holding my breath…but that didn't matter since I had something else planned…

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More coming soon! I hope you enjoyed it, please review as I would love to see what people thought of this!


	2. Chapter 2

My day with Axel continues! The reason it's starts right in again is because this was originally all one piece, and I had to split it into chapters later. Enjoy!

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"C'mon let's get to the deeper water," I said, and we splashed through the shallows, bobbing with the waves until we had to tread water to stay afloat.

"Okay, we'll go under on the count of three. I'll tap you if I have to come up before you, and you do the same to me if you can't stay under anymore. Okay?

"Whatever you say," he replied.

"One, two, three!" We both gulped in air, and plunged under the surface. I floated for a while, watching him. Now I was ready to put my plan into action, for I knew his true weakness. Kicking forward, I neared him, careful not to touch him. Then, I shot out my hands, to attack his waist in a tickling frenzy.

A burst of bubbles shot out of his mouth and he kicked up to the surface, squirming away from my hands. We both popped our heads above the water, Axel sputtering and spitting water out of his mouth.

"What'd you do that for?" He cried, but I could see he was rather amused. I was grinning insanely.

"I found out your _real _weakness," I replied mischievously.

"Whatever," he said, but then lunged forward and proceeded to pay me back, tickling my ribs. I shrieked. "Stop!" I laughed. "Okay, enough!"

He finally stopped, but now we were bobbing extremely close to each other. I looked up at him and felt suddenly self-conscious.

"Hey, um, let's go get something to eat," Axel said, looking away.

"Yeah, I'm pretty hungry," I replied, scratching a nonexistent itch on my neck.

"Cool." With that, we swam back to shore. As we waded through the shallows, I shook my head a bit to dry my hair off.

"Hey!" I heard a disgruntled Axel exclaim. "How do you like this?" And he shook his head and sprayed me, while his hair popped back into place. I couldn't help but laugh again.

"Wha-at? Oh, my hair," he said, rolling his eyes. "You crazy girl," he gave me a gentle shove. Except I stumbled and nearly fell over. I gave him a shove back. He kicked water at me. I kicked back. Then he started splashing me, using his hands, and I began running towards the shore, with him chasing after me. We reached the umbrella, and I plopped down on a lounge chair.

"You guys have fun?" Naminé asked from an adjacent lounge.

"Yeah!" I replied, a little too quickly. "I mean, um, yes, the water was – refreshing!"

"That's good," she replied, and went back to sketching.

Axel was now rummaging in the cooler, and I wrapped a towel around myself.

"Anyone want some ice cream?" he called.

"I do!" Roxas replied from the other lounge.

"Me too," I said.

"Alright," he replied and pulled three sticks of blue sea salt ice cream from the cooler. He handed one to me, went over to give one to Roxas, and kept the third for himself. Axel chatted with Roxas for a bit, and Naminé took this opportunity to talk to me.

"You like Axel don't you?" she asked in a low voice, looking at me over the top of her sketchbook.

"What?" I said, a bit taken aback. I paused from unwrapping my ice cream, and thought, _am I really that obvious?_

"Well, you clearly enjoy being around him."

"Um, yeah, I guess," I said trying to sound nonchalant.

"You should tell him. I believe the feelings are mutual," she advised me. "Plus, things wouldn't end up being quite so awkward."

"Oh, okay," I said, wondering at how she knew these sort of things. I licked my ice cream thoughtfully. How was I supposed to let Axel know I liked him? Just randomly walk up to him and say, "You are sexy and I have a huge crush on you"? Oh god…that would win the Nobel Prize for Awkwardness.

All of a sudden, Axel was walking over to me. He looked a bit uncomfortable, and his cheeks were tinged with pink. I wondered what he could possibly have been talking with Roxas about.

"Hey, Alasora, do you want to um, take a walk or something?" He asked, a bit nervously.

"Oh, sure," I replied, equally nervous. "Let me just, uh, put on some clothes…" I got up and moved to get my shorts out of my bag, but realized I was still holding my ice cream. "Umm…" I guess Axel realized what was going on because he reached out and said, "Here, let me hold that for you."

"Thanks," I said, and started to hand it to him when I realized it was about to drip. I squeaked and pulled it back so I could lick it off. I was suddenly aware of Axel watching me, and the fact that what I just did could have appeared totally dirty. I couldn't help that my mind was nearly always in the gutter…Anyway, I handed him the ice cream, got my shorts and pulled them on.

"Okay," I said, taking back the ice cream.

"All set?" He asked.

"Yep," I replied. "Let's go."

As we set off across the beach, I glanced back and saw Naminé wink at me. And was Roxas winking too? Were they planning something? I turned to Axel.

"Did you see that?" I asked.

"What, them?" he replied, jerking his thumb in their direction.

"Yeah."

"Yeah, I don't know what's up with them. They both must have twitchy eyelids," he grinned. I laughed and could tell that at least Axel had relaxed enough to start joking.

As we walked under the bridge that led to the mini island with the paopu tree, we passed Sora and Kairi who were returning from their walk. I wondered if they had done more than just walking on their little excursion. Then my stomach flipped when I thought of how my "walk" with Axel might turn out to be something more...

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So what did you think of this chapter? Please review, it makes me happy!


	3. Chapter 3

Part Three – to the cove! I actually had to go back and play around on Destiny Islands in the beginning of KH1 so I could accurately write this part...that's how obsessive I am. Well, on with the story!

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We exchanged greetings as we walked past Sora and Kairi, and I could tell they thought something might be "blossoming" between Axel and myself. I licked my ice cream to calm my nerves. Why did I always have to act so weird around guys I liked?

We soon reached the little door that led to the cove on the other side of the island. After passing through the doorway, we had to cross the bridge, stepping or jumping over places where the planks had fallen out. I stumbled once, and Axel caught my arm, helping to steady me.

"Thanks," I muttered, blushing.

"No problem," he answered.

When we had gotten back to sturdy ground, I saw the ladder that led to the top of the tower that rose up in front of us.

"Hey, you wanna climb up there?" I asked, motioning to the tower.

"Sure," he replied.

I started forward to place my hands on the rung when I realized I was still holding my ice cream. I hesitated and Axel seemed to notice.

"Need my help with the ice cream again?" he asked mockingly.

"I think I can handle this on my own," I retorted and shoved it into my mouth. I proceeded to climb the ladder, wincing against the coldness in my mouth. Once I got to the top, I hoisted myself up onto the platform and ripped the ice cream out of my mouth, my lips puckering. Axel soon reached the top as well, ice cream sticking out of his mouth, and a pained expression on his face.

"You want me to take that for you?" I asked. He nodded instantly, so I reached forward and pulled it out with my free hand.

"Whoo! That was cold!" He exclaimed as he lifted himself onto the platform.

"Hyeah it is."

"Okay, you can give it back now."

Feeling giddy, I started to hold it out to him, but as he reached to take it, I pulled my hand back at the last second. He rolled his eyes and tried to snatch it back from me, but I pulled my hand away again.

"You asked for it," he said, and grabbed my arm, but I turned away so that my back was to him, and his arms were reaching around me. Finally he caught hold of it, but by now, both of our hands were covered in the sticky melted ice cream. I had started giggling and began licking my hand off. God, I thought, he must think I'm an airhead…all I do is laugh insanely when I'm around him.

He had pulled away from me and was blushing. Then I realized what an "interesting" position we had just been in. I cleared my throat. "I'm just gonna sit down…" I said, trying to relieve the awkwardness. I plopped down on the edge of the tower, my legs dangling over the edge. He followed suit and we sat, contentedly licking the remains of our ice creams.

Feeling the silence close in on us, I tried to think of something to say…Oh! There was one thing I had been wanting to hear about from him.

"So, Axel, what was it like while you were in the Organization?" I asked, turning to him. It was something he had never really talked about, but I was too curious not to ask him at some point.

"The Organization? That…was interesting." He exhaled and continued. "I was never really involved in all their evil plotting…I had just wanted a heart. As you know, I ended up helping Sora fight against the rest of the Nobodies. And now I'm here." (A/N: In this story, Axel, Roxas, and Naminé somehow all get hearts and come to live on Destiny Islands. Axel obviously doesn't die)

"But what was daily life like? What did you do when you weren't in those meetings?"

"Well, I was always rather bored there. I hung out with Demyx mostly, until Roxas came along, of course. That was when the fun began. We pulled a few interesting pranks during our time in the Organization. They mostly consisted of misplacing people's weapons, or putting dye in the shampoo…it was pretty funny. But when Roxas left, I was pretty depressed. He had been my only real friend that whole time. But at least he's back now. I definitely like it here on Destiny Islands."

"Yeah, I love it here too," I said. "So, what about Larxene? She being the only female Organization member…weren't the guys all over her?"

"Huh, funny you should ask that. I at one point in my early days of being an Organization member, found her rather attractive. I went up to her to just, y'know, talk to her, but she turned out to be a heartless bitch. Ha! Literally…"

"That must have sucked…to have no love life…" I sighed, but as soon as it came out of my mouth, I regretted it. I had brought up the subject of love…crap!

"Well, that's gonna be changing soon," he said slyly. "I mean, I hope," he added. Then he glanced at me and held my gaze. My stomach was in knots…did this mean there was someone else he was going after? I couldn't possibly think who – not Selphie! That would be depressing if he chose her over me.

"D-do you have your eye on someone?" I managed, dreading his reply.

"Actually, I was hoping I could have your advice on that," he said. My stomach did a flip. Damnit – there _was _someone else! "There's this girl I like, who has the sweetest laugh, and I never get tired of gazing into her beautiful blue-grey eyes," he was totally staring at me now, and it slowly reached my brain that _my _eyes were blue-grey. "I wonder if she'd go out with me if I asked…"

"Wh-who is she?" I stuttered, my heart fluttering in my chest.

"You, silly!" He grinned. My jaw practically dropped.

"M-me?" I didn't think this was possible! So Naminé was right.

"Yes, you. Got it memorized?"

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I held off using Axel's trademark line until it felt right, and I think it goes well here. I hope you all liked this chapter...more exciting parts are yet to come!

Please review, I appreciate all your feedback!


	4. Chapter 4

Beware – lotsa mushy/cuddly/fluffy stuff up ahead. I'm telling you I warned you!

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Axel had just told me that he liked me. I almost let out a squeal of happiness. He gently tilted my chin up, and his face was closing in on mine. _Oh my god_, I thought, _he's going to kiss me!_ Sure enough, I felt the soft touch of his lips on mine. I kissed back, and our mouths opened, our tongues taking the opportunity to go exploring. This was better than I had ever dreamed it would be.

When we finally finished, my eyes opened slowly, and we smiled at each other. "So you think Roxas and Naminé set us up?" I asked, now so much calmer.

"Apparently. I don't think I would have known that you liked me if Roxas hadn't told me."

"Me neither. I really didn't know what you thought of me…" I paused then ventured to say, "So I guess this means we're a couple?"

"Absolutely," he replied, wrapping an arm around my shoulder, and pulling me close. I leaned my head against his chest. God, I had wanted to do this for so long. The girly part of me was squealing, "Now we get to go on quadruple dates with the rest of the gang!"

"Y'know, if we stay here any longer, this is gonna seem real suspicious to the guys," Axel commented.

"Yeah, you're right," I said reluctantly, lifting my head up.

Axel got to his feet and helped me up. Then he started his descent down the ladder, and I followed. When we reached the bottom, he said, "Let's go back through the water…that bridge is just so dysfunctional."

"What're you, scared?" I teased. He rolled his eyes. Then I made a pouting face. "But now I'm all dry!"

"Well then, it looks like I have no choice," he replied, and before I knew it he had literally swept me off my feet and into his arms. I gave a little shriek, but I certainly didn't mind. As he splashed though the water to the other side, I nuzzled against him, breathing in his slight cinnamon scent. What a wonderful day this had turned out to be.

When we got to the dry sand, he put me down gently.

"Thank you very much, kind sir," I said and pretended to curtsy.

"You are most welcome, milady," he replied, bowing, and took my hand to kiss it. I grinned. We had the exact same sense of humor.

Continuing the play-acting, he opened the door that led out of the cove and back to the seashore. "After you."

I waltzed through the doorway, and he followed shutting the door behind him. He came and walked next to me, slipping an arm around my waist as we headed towards the umbrella.

"What do we have here?" Roxas asked from a lounge as we approached. He grinned to Axel and I now quite obviously "together". Sora looked up from a book and smiled too. Apparently the girls had given in and decided to go for a swim.

"Looks like my magic did the trick!" Roxas smirked.

"Yeah, well, I did quite a bit of the talking. Alasora here, was already completely smitten with me, so it was a piece of cake," Axel replied.

"I was not 'smitten' with you!" I said crossing my arms. On second thought, I probably was.

"Hah! Axel, you shouldn't even be talking!" Roxas said. "You were a goner soon as you laid eyes on her!"

"I was not!" Axel retorted. By this time, I had taken a seat on the empty lounge chair next to Sora. Axel and Roxas continued their little quarrel… "Boys," I muttered.

"Hey!" Sora said, sounding jokingly offended.

"Well, not you, Sora," I replied.

"I know, I'm just giving you a hard time. But you know, Axel is very lucky to have you. I can tell you have a pure heart."

"Aw, thanks Sora," I replied, touched. "And Kairi is very lucky to get to be with you."

"Thanks," he said, blushing a little. Sora was so nice, and he and Kairi made such a cute couple.

Axel had finished his little debate and returned to me. He looked rather defeated, and Roxas was smirking. _So he did fall for me right in the beginning,_ I thought triumphantly.

Axel came over and sat next to me on the lounge, wrapping his arms around my waist. Then he leaned back, pulling me down with him, and I snuggled against him. I felt so at home with Axel, like this was where I belonged. It was strange to think that only this morning, we had been strangely awkward around each other, whereas now we were completely comfortable with one another.

Before long, Naminé and Kairi returned from the water and toweled themselves dry.

"Who's up for a game of volleyball?" Kairi called. My eyes had fallen shut – Axel was so comfy ­– and I opened them to see Kairi and Naminé grinning at me.

"Well, well, well!" Kairi said, giving me a knowing look.

"Oh, you two are so cute together!" Naminé squealed, clasping her hands together.

"Alright, alright, we get the picture!" Axel groaned. He was apparently just as tired as I was of everyone cooing about our newfound relationship.

He started to sit up, easing me off of him. I reluctantly sat up too.

"Well, are you guys playing or what?" Kairi asked, hands on hips.

"I'm game," Roxas said, coming over.

"Sure, I'll play," Sora piped up, rising from the lounge chair next to the one Axel and I had been on.

"I'm playing," I said. We all looked at Axel expectantly.

"I hope you guys are ready to have your asses kicked," he smirked, folding his arms.

"Oh, really now," Kairi replied. "It's on."

We all headed over to the shack once again to retrieve all the necessary volleyball equipment. Once we set up the net, we split up into teams: girls against guys.

"You sure this is fair?" Axel taunted.

"We'll show you fair, Fireboy," I replied smirking. I turned to Kairi and Naminé. "You ready to whoop 'em?"

"Hell yes!" Kairi replied.

"Ready as ever!" Came Naminé's cheerful voice.

"C'mon already!" Roxas whined.

"Girls," Sora muttered, grinning at me.

"You asked for it!" Kairi called and launched the ball into the air; and so began our crazy volleyball tournament.

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This might be it for a while, because the first four chapters were pretty much written all at once. I have another little piece that's kind of separate, and not quite as light-hearted, so I might try to fit that in somewhere. I'm not really sure how to end this story...anyone have any ideas? Please review!


	5. Chapter 5

Sadly, I think this is the last chapter of the story. But before you get all depressed, know that I might create a separate story that continues with these characters. It might be a bit of background stuff, or just more about what happens between Axel and Alasora.

Anyway, on with the story. This chapter is a bit longer than the others, which I hope you find to be a good thing! Enjoy!

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The girls ended up winning the volleyball game (of course). We were just so much better at teamwork. The guys were all trying to get the ball at once, and so none of them ended up getting it.

By this time we were all really hot, and we went back into the water for one last swim. It was now late afternoon, and we all had to get to our homes for dinner. We packed everything up, putting things back into the shack or into the boats. Soon we were all ready to head out, but Axel was nowhere to be found.

"You guys, where'd Axel go off to?" I inquired.

"I dunno," Roxas replied. But suddenly he popped out of the seaside shack.

"What were you doing?" I asked.

"Oh, uh, just making sure everything was…put back correctly," he replied, attempting to sound casual.

"Okay," I said, a little confused as to what he had really been doing. He seemed to have a strange bulge in one of his pockets. I wondered if I should ask what it was, but decided not to.

"Are we all set then?" Kairi asked.

Everyone nodded. Soon we were pushing the boats out into the water, maneuvering them over the waves, and then clambering in. Before long, we had arrived back on the main island, and were saying our good-byes for the day. As everyone departed for their houses, Axel came up to me.

"Hey do you think you could meet me on this beach, say, 8:00 tonight?" he proposed.

I looked up at him, and said, "What for?"

"Just to hang out a bit longer," he replied, a twinkle in his eye. "I've got a surprise for you."

I felt a thrill go through me at his words. _What kind of surprise?_ I wondered. My mind flashed back to the mysterious object he had in his pocket. Could that have something to do with it?

"I'll be there," I confirmed. "I've got it memorized." I flashed him a grin.

"Hey, that's my line!" he cried, giving me a gentle shove.

"Oops – oh well," I said sarcastically.

"Okay, I gotta go," Axel said, and kissed my forehead.

"Yeah, me too," I said, remembering that I probably should have been home about twenty minutes ago. Axel waved and set off towards his house, and I headed towards mine.

I arrived home, my parents asked me how my day was, we ate dinner. But the whole time, my thoughts were turned to what would be happening tonight.

It was dusk. The sun had set and the sky was fading to a soft indigo. We had both arrived at the small beach that faced the smaller island at about the same time, just as we had planned. Axel had been carrying a blanket, which we were now lying on. I turned my head so I could see him. Sensing my eyes upon him, he turned too, and we shared a smile. We let the cool salty air wash over us, our ears filling with the calming crashes of the waves. We enjoyed the comfortable silence that we could so easily share.

I was still wondering about the surprise Axel had supposedly planned. He sure was taking his time with it. In the meantime, I decided to look back up again at the sky. As my eyes roamed across the wide expanse, they fell upon a faint star that had just appeared. It looked so lonely up there—so brave to be the first one to shed its light upon this warm summer night. But as I searched the rest of the sky, I saw another—and I realized that no one is alone, not even the stars. It seemed so right that each and everything in this world–in all the worlds–had something to hold onto and to find comfort in; someone to call their own. And I smiled. Because I had found that person.

"What're you thinking about?" asked Axel in a quiet voice.

"Oh, nothing," I replied, reflecting on how he would totally tease me if I said anything close to what I had been just thinking.

"C'mon, I know it must be interesting," he coaxed. "Your thoughts are always interesting."

"Oh are they now," I replied, rolling on my side to face him. I fidgeted with a bit of the blanket.

"Yes, they are," he said, surprising me with his sincerity. He gazed back at me.

"Fine," I relented. "I was just thinking…how glad I am that you came into my life." I looked down, my face growing warm. There was a short silence, followed by Axel's quiet reply.

"I am too." He had turned onto his side as well, and he reached a hand out to tuck my hair behind my ear. I glanced up at him through my eyelashes. His deep green eyes held my gaze and I became suddenly aware of my breathing.

Completely impulsively, I propped myself on my elbows, and leaned down to place a soft kiss on his mouth. I pulled away, and couldn't suppress a giggle to see his fluttering eyelids and puckered lips. He opened his eyes to see me grinning down at him.

"I can't handle it when you do that to me," he groaned, and slipping his hands behind my neck, pulled my face down to his, his lips tantalizingly close.

"See how you like it," he whispered, kissing me once, then pausing. Oh god, he was right…it was unbearable. Neither of us could resist, and we lost ourselves in the touch of each other's lips.

When we were finally finished, Axel lay back down with his arms behind his head. I snuggled up against him and put my head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. He stroked my hair, twirling a bit around his finger, then letting it fall. I could have stayed this way forever.

"Alasora?" he said at last.

"Hmm?"

"I – I have something I think you'll like," he said. He sounded rather nervous.

"Is this the surprise you were talking about earlier?" I asked playfully, lifting my head off his chest so I could look at him.

"Yeah," he replied. He sat up, reaching into his pocket, but then pausing. "I was hoping – I mean – I think we're ready…" he hesitated.

I sat up too, folding my legs. Wait…oh my god. He wasn't talking about sex…was he? He seemed to notice my frightened expression, and said, "No, no, no, it's nothing…er – dirty…"

Wow, I didn't know anyone's face could get that red. He looked down, and mumbled something about his choice of words. Now I felt kind of bad.

"It's okay, Axel," I said, trying to comfort him. "What _were_ you talking about?"

He pulled something yellow out of his pocket. As I squinted at it in the dim light, I almost laughed out loud. A paopu fruit! How sweet of him!

Axel looked at me, quite obviously embarrassed, but with a hopeful expression on his face.

"You want to share that – with me?" I asked, quite flattered. We had only gotten together that day after all. But the whole story behind the paopu fruit was just superstition. I'd heard of loads of people from Destiny Islands that had shared them with their "special someones", but nothing amazing ever happened. I didn't see the harm in sharing it with him.

He nodded at me. "But only if you really want to," he said. "Going to get it was kind of an impulsive thing, but I thought I might as well offer it anyway…"

"So that's what you were doing when we were all getting ready to leave…you weren't really tidying up the shack!" I said, putting everything into place. I remembered that there was a staircase at the back of the shack. It led up to the bridge from which you could reach the mini island with the paopu tree.

"Yep, you almost caught me back there," he said. "That would have ruined the surprise." He smiled. Then, growing rather serious, he asked, "So do you want to share it?"

"I would love to, Axel," I answered, smiling happily up at him. He seemed to look quite relieved. "Now, who takes the first bite?"

"I think we should both have the first bite," he grinned. He held it up in front of his face.

"Wait, we're biting it at the same time?" I asked, raising my eyebrows.

"Sure, why not?"

"Okay, here goes." We both leaned forward, and attempted to bite into the fruit. As my teeth sunk in, the juice ran down my chin, and I pulled away, munching on the soft sweet flesh. Axel had appeared to have taken a good sized bite as well. He lowered the fruit, and we looked at each other as we ate. I grinned around my mouthful; it was such a funny situation.

Axel swallowed. "Mmm, that's so good. Want more?"

"Of course," I replied.

As we sat there beneath the night sky, finishing the remains of the paopu fruit, I thought to myself: whether our destinies were intertwined or not, I knew I would always enjoy being with Axel. And I smiled.

THE END

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Yay, I found a good way to end it! I know you all must be sad that it's over, but it can't go on forever.

Thanks for everyone who reviewed it, I really appreciate all the support!


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